Even though the EU’s conditionality per se did not make Lithuanian people more tolerant, it may have created the conditions for winning hearts and minds in the long run. Despite the fact that the majority of LGBT persons continue to hide their sexual or gender identity (in 2012, 81% did so at school and 55% at work), the problems they face are no longer invisible, and even backlash-like developments contribute to sparking a debate. On June 18, 2016 a march for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights, known as the Baltic Pride parade, took place in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius.

The referendum on family initiated by a group of Conservative NGOs has divided the Slovak citizenry into two opposing camps. Despite the conflictual nature of the campaign, the referendum has demonstrated that Slovakia is ready to handle civil-society deliberations on a large scale, which could be a sign indicating the gradual maturing of Slovak civil society.

There were two disparate and somehow polemic tendencies, or overarching discourses, among the parental movements presented at the workshop on Södertörn University in May 2014. The first was the nationalist discourse, whilst the other predominated discourse was concentrated on promoting new norms in parenting.

As an EU-member, Lithuania has to a large extent set up institutional mechanisms to combat homophobia. It has implemented anti-discrimination laws that are roughly in line with EU norms. At the same time, the country does not allow same-sex marriage, fails to recognize same-sex partnership (or indeed any form of civil partnership), and does not allow homosexual couples to adopt children. A still greater problem, note the authors, is that the political and cultural climate remains deeply hostile towards homosexuality and towards recognizing the rights of individuals of a minority sexual orientation.

Joanna Mizelienska, lecturer in gender and queer studies, argues that it is difficult to apply queer theory in Poland. Can one speak of constructed sexual identities where gay rights are disregarded or violated?